Patience is a virtue

I think there is a fun factor to this era. Watches were a little more playful, we had the Swatches and the Tag plastic formula watches. Even more “serious” sport watches like this one weren’t industrial or stoic- there was some pizzaz for lack of a better term. Of course there was some hideous shit that came out of the 90’s -Omega- I’m looking directly at you!

So, do you feel like you're getting to the point in collecting that you're 'specializing' in Zodiac, at least for the foreseeable future?

I find it interesting hearing about how people settle on and pursue a focused collection. Going after a specific brand and time period really ups the challenge factor.

Very nice! Not familiar with these. Does the red dot have a purpose?

No purpose. Just a branding of the product line. The placement is odd, but has become a defining element for these,

I don’t like to think I specialize in anything and try to keep my collection fairly diverse. But when I dive down the rabbit hole with some brands/styles/types I find myself trying to find archetypes. The Zodiac catalog is huge, you could spend a lifetime collecting them.

The Seawolf is what started my curiosity about the brand and after buying a lot of basket cases and multiples of the same thing I finally started pruning down to the ones that I find represent what I like about that brand.



I have 4 or so more in various states of repair/disrepair but find them redundant at this point (like a no-date of the same ref as the left one or another early MKII with white dial) and my goal is to eventually prune it down to just the examples that speak to me.

Some collectors want to complete the whole lineage, so the above Seawolf triptych would need the MKI and a MKIV to complete the set. I do want a MKIV eventually (which was a c-case) because they are badass, but don’t really need a MkI to feel whole.
When I was actively collecting records, I would buy multiples of the same album to find the best one (condition of earliest stamper or rarest pressing). I would feel the need to hunt down an entire artists catalog to feel the collection was complete. I realized I had a lot of shit I just didn’t listen to. So I had to change my approach to collecting to records by purging the albums I didn’t listen to even if it was from an artist I loved and a rare pressing. Even though it “competed a set” it didn’t bring me any joy. Some albums I would have to have the first UK pressing, the first US pressing, the MoFi pressing, the reissue pressing….fυck!! Now I only want the one I’m doing to listen to- the best example of that recording that will bring me joy.

Collecting is different to everyone and we all evolve. What is right for me may not be right for someone else. Some people love a well worn watch, I’ve been down that road and realized I really don’t. Some people need to have the compete set, I’ve realized I really don’t. Maybe some day I’ll dump the whole collection and be back to 3 watches…I doubt that though.

The idea of collecting 'archetypes' really resonates with me. It may sound a bit general, but lately I'm finding myself really attracted to what I guess you could generalize as funky vintage tool watches. It's not one brand, but there's some connection for me between, say, a vintage Seiko speedtimer, a tissot navigator, and a Bulova deep sea Chrono - they all tool watches with fun, distinctive designs and they might form a collection even if I never get excited to track down every tissot navigator variant.


If I see you do that, I'll call someone to do a welfare check.

There's a thread on that: https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-logic-of-your-collection.105235/

This thread doesn’t apply to people who buy watches by the pound. Keep on keepin’ on.

Congrats JW and as always thanks for the wise words on patience!